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Has anyone incurred these costs? I'm assuming it costs tens of thousands of dollars. I need to be realistic about the costs of
1) moving -- bringing the contents of a 4BR house overseas
2) cost of living -- groceries, household goods
3) replacing non-compatible electrics -- for example the nice big screen tv with a different voltage
4) automobile -- petrol, costs of a new car
5) renting a home -- i have read it's very competitve and very pricey in Sydney and surrounding suburbs; and buying homes looks very expensive as well
6) holiday to/from Sydney -- i couldn't find any flights out of Sydney that were less than $1000 USD -- to anywhere!
7) healthcare -- is dentistry, etc. covered? what about eye care? speech or physical therapy?
Are there any aspects of life that are cheaper than the US? Or at least comparable?
Thanks in advance. As you can see I'm very much considering a move. I would get a visa sponsorship so need to worry about that...
For cost of moving, you would be better off going to an immigration forum. This is not really a forum for immigrations. I looked at yahood groups and did a search for Australia Immigration and saw one group with almost 400 members and a australianz migrate forum with 1700 members. You can also go to move2nz.org to see what people are paying to rent containers to move to NZ (Oz will be comparable).
Has anyone incurred these costs? I'm assuming it costs tens of thousands of dollars. I need to be realistic about the costs of
1) moving -- bringing the contents of a 4BR house overseas Cost us about $10k 10 years ago Vancouver to Perth, the moving company packing and unpacking everything. Well worth it because if you sold off all your personal goods there (for next to nothing) and bought everything new here (at the much higher price than the US), you'd probably be looking at about $80k for a 4BR house worth of goods (that's how much we insured the contents of our container for). Plus it's nice to have your own stuff with you, makes your new home feel like home. The only time I wouldn't recommend bringing your own stuff is if you were just starting out and had very little in the way of furniture and household goods, and if it was 2nd-hand or hand-me-down junky stuff.
2) cost of living -- groceries, household goods Higher than the US.
3) replacing non-compatible electrics -- for example the nice big screen tv with a different voltage Yes, unfortunately. The big stuff you can't bring because of the voltage issue. But we brought a lot of our small appliances with us and bought a couple of really good voltage transformers - not the $20 ones from Walmart but $80 ones from specialty electrical stores. We thought it was worth it - my bread machine, food processor, blender, pasta maker, juicers, compound mitre saw, sewing machine, etc. all work well still. I'm the type who buys top of the line good quality stuff and uses it for decades.
4) automobile -- petrol, costs of a new car Oooh, prefer yourself for a shock!
5) renting a home -- i have read it's very competitve and very pricey in Sydney and surrounding suburbs; and buying homes looks very expensive as well Another shocker.
6) holiday to/from Sydney -- i couldn't find any flights out of Sydney that were less than $1000 USD -- to anywhere! Yup. Tell me about it. Although you can come over to Perth for less than that(yeah, I know ... whoop dee doo!)
7) healthcare -- is dentistry, etc. covered? what about eye care? speech or physical therapy? Recommended to purchase private health insurance for that. We pay about $260/month for a family. Then you pay 1.5% Medicare Levy on your income tax return every year. If you're thinking of getting Lasik - get it there, it is a total rip-off here. Nothing to do with health insurance, just sayin'....
Are there any aspects of life that are cheaper than the US? Or at least comparable? Hmmm, I'll have to have a think about that one. Might be a while. Gotta be something .... Oh yeah - a glass of good wine in restaurants here is cheaper than what I found in the US.
Thanks in advance. As you can see I'm very much considering a move. I would get a visa sponsorship so need to worry about that... Well good luck with that. When you move to Oz it's not for the cost of living, unless you live in Manhattan. Even then it might be cheaper there.
Has anyone incurred these costs? I'm assuming it costs tens of thousands of dollars. I need to be realistic about the costs of
Hmmm, I'll have to have a think about that one. Might be a while. Gotta be something .... Oh yeah - a glass of good wine in restaurants here is cheaper than what I found in the US.
Thanks in advance. As you can see I'm very much considering a move. I would get a visa sponsorship so need to worry about that... Well good luck with that. When you move to Oz it's not for the cost of living, unless you live in Manhattan. Even then it might be cheaper there.
Its still cheaper than Manhattan. One thing cheaper in the states.. Tim Tams.. $2 a pack on sale here. I don't miss the bloody things anymore.
Me, I'll miss Anzac bikkies. Not a Tim Tam fan. Lucky that it's fairly easy to make Anzac bikkies.
I learned to make Anzacs over here.. and I make them better than store bought (not that difficult). I brought a batch over for post Anzac day service tea
Has anyone incurred these costs? I'm assuming it costs tens of thousands of dollars. I need to be realistic about the costs of
1) moving -- bringing the contents of a 4BR house overseas Cost us about $10k 10 years ago Vancouver to Perth, the moving company packing and unpacking everything. Well worth it because if you sold off all your personal goods there (for next to nothing) and bought everything new here (at the much higher price than the US), you'd probably be looking at about $80k for a 4BR house worth of goods (that's how much we insured the contents of our container for). Plus it's nice to have your own stuff with you, makes your new home feel like home. The only time I wouldn't recommend bringing your own stuff is if you were just starting out and had very little in the way of furniture and household goods, and if it was 2nd-hand or hand-me-down junky stuff.
2) cost of living -- groceries, household goods Higher than the US.
3) replacing non-compatible electrics -- for example the nice big screen tv with a different voltage Yes, unfortunately. The big stuff you can't bring because of the voltage issue. But we brought a lot of our small appliances with us and bought a couple of really good voltage transformers - not the $20 ones from Walmart but $80 ones from specialty electrical stores. We thought it was worth it - my bread machine, food processor, blender, pasta maker, juicers, compound mitre saw, sewing machine, etc. all work well still. I'm the type who buys top of the line good quality stuff and uses it for decades.
4) automobile -- petrol, costs of a new car Oooh, prefer yourself for a shock!
5) renting a home -- i have read it's very competitve and very pricey in Sydney and surrounding suburbs; and buying homes looks very expensive as well Another shocker.
6) holiday to/from Sydney -- i couldn't find any flights out of Sydney that were less than $1000 USD -- to anywhere! Yup. Tell me about it. Although you can come over to Perth for less than that(yeah, I know ... whoop dee doo!)
7) healthcare -- is dentistry, etc. covered? what about eye care? speech or physical therapy? Recommended to purchase private health insurance for that. We pay about $260/month for a family. Then you pay 1.5% Medicare Levy on your income tax return every year. If you're thinking of getting Lasik - get it there, it is a total rip-off here. Nothing to do with health insurance, just sayin'....
Are there any aspects of life that are cheaper than the US? Or at least comparable? Hmmm, I'll have to have a think about that one. Might be a while. Gotta be something .... Oh yeah - a glass of good wine in restaurants here is cheaper than what I found in the US.
Thanks in advance. As you can see I'm very much considering a move. I would get a visa sponsorship so need to worry about that... Well good luck with that. When you move to Oz it's not for the cost of living, unless you live in Manhattan. Even then it might be cheaper there.
This is pretty much on the nose. You certainly don't move to Aus for lower living costs! Cars and accomodation are the real killers in this respect.
Although I think it might be possible to get a voltage / frequency converter for the electronics?
Australia does seem to have a lot of good cheap cask wine, which is a great boon if you're from a 'dry county' in the States.
Hi, My husband and I moved from Los Angeles to Victoria one year ago. We considered it VERY reasonable.
We shipped a 2 bedroom house worth of furniture for $1500. We made a deal with a classic car importer to stack things in the container around the car.
We rent a beautiful 3 bedroom house ON the beach on the Mornington Peninsula ( comparable to Northern California in terms of environment)Think wineries, mid size quaint towns, rolling hills and gorgeous clear beaches
Our rent is $1000. To buy the home we live in would cost $750,000, so we will stick with renting for a while, yes buying a home is expensive here.
My Husband landed a job managing a huge car dealership the second day. It pays $40,000 more a year than the same position in America.
We bought any old car the first week, just to get around. A 1998 Toyota for $3000, clean , good paint with 85,000 kms. My husband was given a company car, and company cars are WAY more common here than the States
Yes, petrol is more than the US, But the government will give you a $2800 rebate to convert your vehicle to natural gas. The total cost out of your pocket would be $200. You can buy cool little economical cars here like the Nissan 'Micra'. I drove one to Sydney, 900kms and it cost me $70!
Food is pretty much the same, but WAYYYYY healthier, no GM or high fructose corn syrup crap. We buy all organic and it costs us $100 a week for 2 people.
A good meal in Melbourne for 2 with wine costs around $70, and believe me Melbourne has some of the best dining establishments in the world!
The most expenisve thing was bringing the animals-$20,000 for my horse YIKES, but vet bills are way cheaper here. My horse board is also way cheaper.
Clothing can be pricey, so I just buy on EBAY America. You can shop cheaply at Target or k-mart. I also buy my nutritional supplements from The States, as vitamins ect, are a little more.
Healthcare-medicare is free, to buy private health insurance is WAYYYYYY less than the states. My 65 year old Mother and father pay $250 for both of them per month. I just had a hosptial stay for 2 days, I do not have private health. The wait is the emergency room was 30 minutes, the care was tops, and it was FREE!
Australia still has less taxes than the US, you can rate Australian taxes compared to other countries if you google 'taxes around the world'.
My American husband is blown away by the quality of life here. He cannot believe all the vacation time Aussies get!
The move all in all ran us around $5000. Oh, and another $2000 for my Husbands immigration papers to be a permanent resident.
What I would advise you, however, is if you do not have work experience in a highly desirable field, and do not think you will land a job within the first month, you should come with some significant $$$.
Good Luck
Thanks, StandardBredGal and to all of you! This is very helpful. I am looking forward to the possible move. I just have to get up the nerve to commit to it.
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Or at least comparable?
(yeah, I know ... whoop dee doo!)
.... Oh yeah - a glass of good wine in restaurants here is cheaper than what I found in the US.
